Guardian Guidance – Swift Childcare
A guidance document to help guardians with understanding who Swift are, what we do and what their child is about to experience!
Guardian Guidance – A guidance document to help guardians with understanding who Swift are, what we do and what their child is about to experience!
Introduction to Swift
Swift ACI is a training provider who specialise in apprenticeship programmes within the Early Years industry.
We have been around since 2012 and have secured awards such as Provider of the Year & Education Engagement. We have also seen our apprentices win awards such as Care industry apprentice of the year, and apprentice of the year.
Our team is made up of professionals with different experience and background, to allow us to provide support with various perspectives and experience, thus allowing all learners to have a range of information, advice and guidance.
Swift have 3 sites:
- West Midlands / Birmingham (Level 2 / Level 3)
- East Midlands (Level 2 / Level 3)
- London (Level 3)
What is an apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship is a paid job where the employee learns and gains valuable experiences.
Alongside on-the-job training, apprentices spend at least 20% of their working hours completing classroom-based learning with a college, university or training provider which leads to a nationally recognised qualification.
An apprenticeship includes:
- paid employment with holiday leave
- hands-on-experience in a sector/role of interest
- at least 20% off-the-job training
- formal assessment which leads to a nationally recognised qualification
Who can apply?
An apprenticeship is a great paid work opportunity for people over the age of 16 in England who are:
- early in their career
- looking to upskill in their current job.
- looking for a career-change
- not in full-time education
https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/influencers/what-is-an-apprenticeship
Learning journey and timeline of events
Learning Journey – https://www.swiftcc.co.uk/childcare-apprenticeship
Interview tips /prep – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1trbdSWE_Q–jk2FquHLP98KnWJB5myp0/view?usp=sharing
Apprenticeship Jargon
Within the apprenticeship industry, it is known that training providers have a lot of abbreviations and jargon which can be confusing at times. We have broken down a few of the common ones below:
KSB’s: Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours – all of the underpinning criteria that your child needs to have competence and confidence with by the time they complete.
Diploma Units: These go hand in hand with the KSB’s and are unit accredited elements that feed into the qualification requirements for completion.
Assessor: A qualified expert that supports apprentices with understanding the knowledge, skills and behaviours, and then they will assess this within the workplace.
Tutor: A qualified expert who leads teaching sessions with the apprentices to enhance their learning and understanding of KSB’s and diploma units
IAG: Information, Advice and Guidance – which we will provide on an impartial and factual basis.
BD: Business development – these are made up of intakes and BD managers who will work with your child to onboard onto the apprenticeship, find a suitable employer, prepare for the world of work and to have an ongoing support system with employer aspects.
Functional skills: These are equivalent to GCSEs, if an apprentice doesn’t already hold a C or above in Maths/ English.
Re-Plan: Where a learner falls behind, a replan with achievable targets and deadlines will be set. It is expected that an apprentice will use their replan to ensure they get back on track.
Review: A document that gets submitted to the funding agency (the government) to justify the funding drawdown for the apprentice. They will want to see the learner progressing and committed in order to maintain funding.
EPA: End Point Assessment is the final part of the apprenticeship to prove competency to the awarding body (not Swift) – There is a more detailed overview below.
OTJ: Off the Job is a requirement in order to be an apprentice. We prefer the term ‘CPD’ (continuous professional development) as that is exactly what it is. We detail a full training plan with activities that need to be completed in work hours as their OTJ.
What is EPA?
End-point assessment (EPA) is the final stage of an apprenticeship. It is an impartial assessment of whether your apprentice has developed the skills, knowledge and behaviours outlined in the apprenticeship standard.
Assessments are designed by employers in the sector and are conducted by independent bodies known as end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs).
https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/employers/end-point-assessments#
What is off the job training?
Off-the-job training is defined as learning which is undertaken outside of day-to-day work duties and leads towards the achievement of the apprenticeship. This training takes place within the apprentice’s normal (contracted) working hours.
The off-the-job training must be directly relevant to the apprenticeship.
The minimum off the job training for a full-time apprentice is an average of 6 hours per week. The off-the-job training provides the time to focus and develop the required skills, knowledge, and behaviours to achieve the apprenticeship. There are lots of activities that can contribute to off-the-job training. The key thing to remember is that it must be relevant to the apprenticeship.
Course content
For those learners going on to a L2 EYP apprenticeship, they will be enrolled first onto the Early Years Essentials – Assessment Centre first. This is a 2-week programme made up of 4 sessions, where they need 100% attendance and punctuality, alongside a positive and mature approach to learning. This is an introduction to the L2 course, the world of work, whilst also assessing the skills set of your child.
Achieving a place on the assessment centre, does not guarantee a place on the apprenticeship. During the assessment centre we will be assessing the commitment and professionalism of your child, and they will also be going out to employers for interviews.
Once your child has passed the assessment centre, and received a job offer, then they will progress on to the L2 programme and this is when they will be classed an apprentice.
Both the West Midlands and East Midlands offer the Level 2 (Early Years Practitioner) and Level 3 (Early Years Educator) Childcare Apprenticeship, while London only offer the Level 3.
For further curriculum detail, please visit our website below. Additionally, all apprentices will be given a detailed prospectus during their induction.
